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MONDAY, APRIL 7, 2014
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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Free-to-play changes gaming industry landscape
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JAMES HOYT
entertain@kansan.com
As it has matured, the gaming industry has had to make changes. Most recently, the way games are released and are paid for have accounted for some of those changes. Increasingly, video games are being released in a "free-to-play" format, a monetization method originally pioneered in Asian markets, such as South Korea and China. Free-toplay (F2P) strategies involve releasing a game for free, but charging for in-game purchases or items, customizations or
other features. PlanetSide 2, League of Legends and World of Tanks are three well-known F2P games on PC. However, the format has made its biggest North American impact in the mobile gaming space, with games such as Candy Crush Saga, Clash of Clans, Plants vs. Zombies 2 and others that are dominating the market.
F2P has been criticized by some as exploitive, preying on a small fraction of the market who may feel obligated to buy every item they can or otherwise be addicted to an F2P game. Indeed some games, targeted at children, have been set
up as scams, with things such as $100 item packs. Others believe that F2P is a good strategy for multiplayer-only games, letting players pay for the kind of experience they want for less than a $60 retail product bought in full. Gamers have varying opinions on F2P games and methods.
"I think that unless the model is very well done, it's not great," said Max Driscoll, a freshman from Lenexa. "The worst one is Dungeon Keeper. It's an old franchise, it came out in the '90s. It was great — it basically invented tower defense... EA re-released it [as
an F2P game]. You're underground and it can take anywhere from four to 24 hours to dig out one square without buying something."
Joe Bush, a freshman from Overland Park, sees a more positive side of the method. "For the industry, I think, as a whole it's an effective way to make your game palatable after a couple years, like Team Fortress 2 was, because that was getting kind of stagnant. When they started adding the free-to-play stuff like that it also kind of gave you more of an incentive to play," Bush said.
Both Driscoll and Bush said that Killer Instinct, a freeto-play fighting game for the Xbox One, is a good model for the industry on how F2P should work.
"The free-to-play model for this was you could get it for free and you had one fighter you could use online, and [the fighter roster] would rotate every month," said Driscoll of Killer Instinct.
"You could buy everything for the price of a regular game... it's a good way to get people' interest... it's like a demo, or something like that," Bush said. "[Players] get that
first taste and go for more of it"
However, it's clear that until F2P models, in general, become more balanced in favor of gameplay, they have a long way to go before they are widely respected as a model. Driscoll said, "I think, honestly, it could have been a good thing... for every one of your good examples like Hearthstone, Killer Instinct or Bravely Default, you have your Dungeon Keepers. They're all over. Just go to the App Store and look at the list of things that say 'free.'"
Edited by Chelsea Mies
'Non-Stop' offers non-stop entertainment
UNIVERSAL PICTURES
The great modern film director Paul Thomas Anderson once said something to the effect of, "We [film directors] are really messing up with the action genre." Anderson used harsher language, but it might seem that he's right — at least from an artistic and aesthetic perspective. The formulaic, caged plot structure of the American action genre seems to lead all of its films down the same bland, predictable road.
What I think Anderson forgot, however, was that action movies can still be pretty gosh darn entertaining. "Non-Stop" doesn't transcend any eternal struggles of man or make any sweeping, grandiose statements about the human condition as Anderson's films do, but it does provide 106 minutes of pretty much "non-stop" (heh heh) entertainment.
The movie opens showing troubled, alcoholic U.S. Air Marshal Bill Marks (Liam Neeson) boarding a seemingly routine flight from New York City to London. After taking his seat, he begins some friendly, but somber chit chat with a giddy redhead named Jen (Julianne Moore). He then kicks back and prepares to enjoy the flight — while keeping a watchful, marshal eye
out, of course. Suddenly, he receives a creepy, threatening text message from someone on board, even though tapping into an air marshal's cell network is apparently a federal offense. After a little back-and-forth texting banter, Marks learns that the bad guy wants $150 million wired into an account or he's going to... wait for it... kill someone on board every 20 minutes. Ahh! Marks springs into action, then seems to do everything the exact opposite of how a real air marshal would probably do in this situation. The rest of the film becomes a whodunit race against the clock as Marks scrambles to find the cell-phone-wielding menace.
"Non-Stop" is fast-paced and truly keeps you guessing, but despite being effectively suspenseful and action-packed, it certainly has its weak points. While the title refers to the non-stop flight they are on, it could just as easily be referring to the non-stop cheesiness that characterizes the movie's dialogue and pivotal plot elements. It is riddled with clichés and it's kind of hard to watch at times.
Neselson basically plays an alcoholic version of Bryan Mills from the "Taken" franchise. He's tough, gruff and menacing as ever — although one guy in the movie still has the stones to fight him in a tiny airplane bathroom — and has the same quietly kind side he takes on in most of his newer films. Not much new here.
Moore is kind of a fish out of water in this movie. It
seems odd that an actress who showed us so much gut-wrenching emotion in Oscar-worthy roles like Linda Partridge in "Magnolia" or Amber Waves in "Boogie Nights" would stoop to this level. Why would "The Big Lebowski's" slick, no-nonsense Maude choose to be in a nutty movie like this? The world may never know.
All in all, "Non-Stop" is a ridiculous, yet very fun ride to
take. If you're looking for any kind of romantic, artistic or Oscar-clear cinema, skip it. But if action movies are your thing then there's plenty of really good stuff for you here.
— Edited by Amber Kasselman
TELEVISION
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojewich, left, visits with host David Letterman on the set of "The Late Show with David letterman." in New York. Letterman announced Thursday that he is retiring in 2015.
Letterman's departure will reshape late-night
NEW YORK  Jimmy Fallon's fast start replacing Layen on the "Tonight" show the past two months had a secondary effect: David Letterman suddenly seemed old.
The Top 10 list, the ironic detachment, even the set at the Ed Sullivan Theater. Time doesn't stop for comedy legends, or superstars of any sort. Letterman, who announced Thursday that he will retire from late-night television sometime in 2015, had to feel it.
CBS now faces the challenge of moving on in a reordered late-night world at a time the two Jimmy's — NBC's Fallon and ABC's Kimmel — have a significant head start.
When Jay Leno left in February, Letterman lost his foil — the man whose victory in the competition to replace Johnny Carson two decades ago he never let go. Leno was someone who spoke his language, though, a generational compadre, and when he left, Letterman was alone.
Fallon and Kimmel have a different style, more good-natured and less mocking of the entire concept of a talk show.
It's hard to know what role the new competition played in Letterman's decision: His last contract extension, signed before Fallon took over, was for one year. In the past, he's done multi-year extensions.
The first time Leno left latenight, Letterman ascended to the throne. Not this time. Since Fallon began at "Tonight," his show has averaged 5.2 million viewers, while Letterman has averaged 2.7 million and Kimmel 2.65 million, the Nielsen company said. Last year Letterman averaged 2.9 million and Kimmel 2.5 million, so the direction was clear.
Much of late-night now is about making an impression in social media, or in highlight clips that people can watch on their devices and spread around the next day. Fallon and Kimmel have excelled in spreading their comedy beyond their time slots; Letterman has barely bothered.
KANSAN COMICS
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